Disclaimer: Not mine
A/N: Bear with me, my ducklings! Things will look up for Olivia and for the Stabler family…eventually. Enjoy the next installment of Christmas in New York! I wrote this before this past Tuesday's episode, but due to lack of internet connection, was unable to update it. Sorry! Do you guys really think that Dani is gone for good? I don't. She's going to come back somehow. There hasn't been enough drama yet. LOL!
Previously on SVU:
"You truly are your father's daughter, Liz." Olivia sighed. "Yes. Is it okay if Dani comes in as well?"
Liz almost said no, but sighed. "If she has to. Do I have to talk to her?"
"Only answer the questions you want to, Lizzy. If it helps, look at me and answer it to me." At the girl's nod, she stood up and opened the door. "Detective Beck, if you could join me, please." Before she would let Dani in the room, though, Dani had to understand something. "Do NOT upset her. She is as close to me as any daughter ever could be."
Before Dani could comprehend what Olivia was talking about, she was ushered into the room and the door was shut. She felt a twinge of sadness when she saw Elliot's daughter sitting on the bed, looking worse than the pictures could have ever depicted. And the coldness that, what was her name? Oh yes, Lizzy… Lizzy regarded her with was unsettling. "Hello, Lizzy. I'm sure you remember me."
Lizzy let her eyes display the extreme dislike that she held towards Dani. "Of course, Detective Beck. How could I forget you?" She distressed 'detective Beck' and continued. "Surprisingly enough, I remember names of people I meet." She stopped when Olivia placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry, M…Liv." She was not going to call Olivia mom in front of this beast who had dated her dad for a short time.
"Okay, Lizzy. I need you to answer the questions as clearly as you can, alright?" Dani continued as if she were explaining how to add 1+1 to a group of five year olds.
Lizzy sent her a withering glare. "I know how to answer questions. I'm not dumb. Just because I was raped does not make me stupid and unable to comprehend simple phrases. My dad was in SVU much longer than you have been. I do know how this works."
"Do you remember where you were on the night of the attack?" Dani ignored the glare and continued.
"Well, seeing as it was early this morning, yes I do remember. I'm going to be here." She rolled her eyes. "Oh, you mean last night? My mistake. I was out with one of my friends, Sheila."
"And where did you guys go?" Dani was still talking as if to a young child.
Lizzy was starting to get pissed. "We went to go hug Barney, the big stupid purple dinosaur! For goodness sake, I'm not five! Can you please ask me as if I were an adult!" Sending another withering glare towards Dani, she faced Olivia. "I went with Sheila to go see Phantom of the Opera at her house."
"I love that movie. So what did you do after the movie?" This question came from Olivia.
"Well, ever since I started living with Mar, I live a block away from Sheila. We finished the movie at around 12:30, and at one I decided to go home. Sheila wanted to come with me, but I insisted that I would be fine. I never made it home. I'm lucky that someone wondered what the screaming was in his apartment. The police made it there an hour or so after I was raped."
"Did you see your attacker?" This was Dani.
"No. But he sounded young, and Hispanic. You know, with the accent and all." Lizzy shrugged. "He wore a mask. His shirt was too small, though, so I saw his stomach. There was a strange scar on his stomach. It looked like some one had stabbed him a few times and then connected the stab wounds. It was like an eerie spider's web. He kept telling me that I would enjoy it. He tied me naked to the bed in a way that I never thought I could ever be in. He took a whip out and seemed to be more aroused with every smack it made and cry I uttered." Lizzy tried hard not to burst into tears.
Olivia didn't want to hear any more. She made a couple of notes. "Okay, thank you Lizzy. We will be in touch with you. Do I need to leave the card with you?"
"No, I have both your cell and the precinct's number memorized." She answered with a tired smile. "Come visit. I know Maur, Kath, and Dickie want to see you."
"I promise, I will come and see you." The two detectives left the room, but Olivia paused at the door. "I love you, Lizzy Stabler." She whispered.
"Love you too, Mom." Liz whispered back so Dani couldn't hear her.
But Dani had indeed heard her, and though she never mentioned it to Olivia, she felt strange hearing the daughter of the man she had started falling in love with call someone other than Kathy 'mom' and say that she loved her. Dani was determined to figure out the relationship Elliot and Olivia had shared.
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Once the pair had made it into the car, Olivia let out the breath she was holding. She looked at Dani who in turn looked at her.
"We nee a search warrant for the apartments on that street." Olivia said half a second before Dani did. Both looked startled, as if they weren't expecting to be on the same thought line. "Exactly." Olivia said softly, confused. What's happening! I can't be in sync with anyone other than Elliot! I can't! I think its time that I see Huang again.
Similar thoughts were running through Dani's head. I've never had that in syncness with anyone, not even Elliot or anyone that I worked with before. This can NOT be good. "I'll contact Casey about getting us our search warrant."
"Good. I have some business that I need to take care of when we return to the precinct." Olivia turned and focused on her driving. Her mind went back to the first time her and Elliot had realized how in sync they really were.
Flashback
"Elliot, I know how to do my job! I do not need to be protected and coddled simply because your male instincts tell you that I'm not smart enough to do the job." This wasn't the first time her and Elliot had had this argument.
"Olivia, all that I am asking is that you stay here so you don't get shot. There is no telling what he will do!" Elliot never had wanted a female partner for this very reason.
"Fine. He'll shoot you, and then no one will be there to help you and you will die on the floor of that cold warehouse." Olivia said with a sarcastically sweet tone. "Then Cragen will have my head for letting my partner bleed to death. No, Elliot. I am coming in with you, or none of us are going in."
Elliot caved. "Fine. But stay close to me. I don't want to have to worry about you,"
Olivia just rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about me, Elliot, because I won't be close to you. We're easier targets that way."
The pair entered the building, guns drawn. Olivia went right, Elliot went left. They glanced at each other and he motioned for her to clear her side. She nodded and proceeded to check the right side, all the while keeping low and moving at a steady pace forward, keeping in line with Elliot who was doing the same.
Olivia saw him first. Holding out a hand for Elliot to stop, she tipped her head towards where the perp was holding the girl. Luckily for them, he hadn't seen either of them. They looked at each other and simultaneously circled around. Elliot motioned for her to stay where she was. She nodded, and covered his back, all the while keeping an eye on the girl.
The perp was talking to the little girl. "No one's coming to get you, sweetheart. No one cares. Mommy and Daddy don't love you any more."
Elliot felt his heart clench. How could he tell this little girl such horrific lies? Little did he know, but the same feelings were coursing through Olivia.
A block of wood clattered to the ground. Shit! Elliot cursed inside, hoping the man hadn't heard what direction it was coming from. The man stood up, leaving the little girl unattended. Olivia, get the girl!
Olivia took her chance. Moving so the girl could see her, she motioned for the child to move silently towards her. The man turned around just as the little girl reached Olivia. But before he could say or do anything, Elliot knocked him out with the butt of his pistol.
The gun never pointing away from the perp, he turned to Olivia who was holding the child. His astonished eyes never left hers as she radioed the captain. "Cap, we've got her. Send 'em in. He's unconscious."
On the way back to the station, Olivia suddenly turned to Elliot. "Elliot, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…"
He stopped her. "I would've done the same thing. It is what I was hoping you would do."
They both smiled slightly. The dynamic duo was born.
End Flashback
Olivia couldn't get her mind off of what Lizzy had said. "The spider web." She muttered, trying to think back to where she could have seen what Lizzy was describing.
Dani just looked at her. "It could be a tattoo you've seen."
Olivia's eyes widened slightly. "No. He's dead, I saw him dead. And besides, he is no where near Hispanic."
"What about the partner?" The wheels in Dani's head where spinning.
"How did you know I was talking about Richard White?"
Dani shrugged. "Your reaction to the spider web."
The car was quiet as they made their way back to the 16th precinct, both detectives lost in their thoughts.
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"Well, Olivia. It is good to see that you are keeping up with these appointments." Huang leaned back in his chair and stretched a little. "Forgive me, I'm a little tired. I've had to talk to three kids today already. None of them wanted to talk at first. The stories they tell when they do talk. Whew."
"Huang, I have a problem." Olivia didn't want to waste time with chit chat. She was sitting in the chair used for clients with her legs crossed and her arms resting on the arm rests.
"And what problem would that be, Olivia?"
"Dani." Olivia stated simply. "I don't know what I am going to do."
"What about Dani? Are you two still having problems?"
She shook her head. "No, not really. I still don't like her, but that's not really it. The problem is, is that we aren't having problems. We don't argue on points. We agree with each other."
"What happened today?" Huang knew that something had to have happened for Liv to be bringing this up.
"We were at the hospital interviewing a vic. Turns out that the vic was Lizzy Stabler. We got back to the car, and it was just like I was with Elliot. We both had the same idea the same time. Her ability to read my emotions is something no one has done but El. She mentioned something, and was able to know what I was talking about simply because of my reaction." Liv was purposely keeping the facts vague. "It scares me, George."
"Why does it scare you, Olivia?" Huang was curious.
"It reminds me of what El and I had before he died."
George was about to comment when Olivia's pager went off. She stood up, clipping it back onto her belt. "That was Casey. Apparently, we have our search warrant. I'll come back before the week is done." With that, she left the office.
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While Olivia was with Huang, Dani was on another mission. After explaining to Casey what the problem was and why they needed the search warrant, she went to talk to Don.
"Captain, he's after Elliot's family."
Don looked up from his desk. "Come again, Dani?"
"Richard White. Or rather, his accomplice. He's after the Stabler's and quite possibly Olivia. She's probably last on the list."
Don put his papers down. "And how have you come across this conclusion, Beck?"
"The girl we saw today in the hospital was indeed Lizzy Stabler." At Don's sharp intake of breath, she continued. "You saw the pictures. Well, in person, its much worse, especially when it's the daughter of a dead detective."
"Where are you going with this, Beck?" Olivia, I need to talk to her!
"They never caught the guy who was with Richard, did they?"
"No."
"That's where I was going with this, captain." A beeping went off. She looked down and read her pager. "It's Casey with our search warrant. I'll detail it later, Capt." She exited the office, smirking at the confused look on Cragen's face.
Olivia was already preparing for the ride when Dani stepped out of the office. "You got the page too?"
"Yes."
"Good. Thank you for talking to Casey. What I had to do couldn't wait." Olivia wasn't about to tell Dani that she was seeing a psychiatrist, let along George Huang.
"No problem. Let's go."
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"I really shouldn't be doing this!" The apartment complex owner was muttering as he handed Olivia the master key.
"Hey!" Dani shoved the search warrant into the guy's face. "We got permission, remember?"
"Beck." Olivia said warningly. "We got the key. If Mr. Cortez wants to accompany us, he may."
The small hispanic man shook his head. "No, no, no! I have business I must attend to."
"Good. Then make sure no one enters or exits this building." Dani ordered, following Olivia to the hall way.
"We search it all." Olivia sighed. "This could take a while."
"Munch and Fin will be here soon. They were 20 minutes away when I called them. We'll just start without them."
Once Munch and Fin arrived, the searching went a little faster. The first and second floors came up with nothing. The four of them trudged up to the last floor. There were only two doors.
"This should be relatively easy." Munch commented.
"Yeah, if you like searching through the penthouses." Fin muttered. "Man, this is pointless. Nothing is here."
"None of the keys fit!" Dani was getting frusterated.
"Move back!" Fin placed a well aimed kick and the door fell in.
"Oh my God." Dani and Olivia breathed together. Munch and Fin just stared in astonishment before instinct kicked in. The four went through all the rooms.
"Kitchen is clear!" Dani shouted.
"Master bed is too!" Fin muttered.
"Bathroom clear!" John looked around the corner at Olivia.
The sound of a door being kicked in resounded through the flat. "Guys, take a look at this!" The tone in Olivia's voice was one of numb concern.
"Oh my God." This time the other three were the ones in shock. Inside the second bedroom was a shrine. The walls were covered with pictures of Elliot, his kids, and Olivia. But before any of them could register what was happening, the sound of footsteps reached them.
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Well, here ends another chapter…in a cliffhanger!! Woot! Ah, I love my job! Later, my ducklings!